KEY EVENTS IN THE UGANDA CONFLICT

1986 - Remnants of the Uganda National Liberation Front/Army - the national army of the government that was toppled in January by a guerrilla movement and the National Resistance Movement/Army (NRM/A) led by Yoweri Museveni - re-organise themselves to form the Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA). - UPDA launches a bush war against the NRM/A, with the first significant attack in Gulu on 20 August. - By the end of 1986, many schools and dispensaries in rural areas of northern Uganda are closed and some roads blocked. 1987 - A self-proclaimed Acholi priestess, Alice Lakwena mobilises uneducated youth and links up with UPDA to form the Holy Spirit Movement. 1988 - Lakwena's movement advances across northern and eastern Uganda and is finally defeated near Jinja. She flees to neighbouring Kenya. - Remnants of the Holy Spirit Movement regroup under the command of one Joseph Kony in Gulu and of Lakwena's father, Severino Lokoya, in Kitgum. 1989 - 1990 - Severino Lokoya is arrested by the NRA and imprisoned. - Joseph Kony's group starts ambushes, looting, attacks on civilians and burning of schools. - An Italian priest, Fr Egidio Biscaro, is killed in a rebel ambush. 1991 - NRA launches a military campaign led by Maj Gen David Tinyefuza. From April to August it seals off the northern districts of Apac, Lira, Gulu and Kitgum from the rest of Uganda. - The rebels begin the practice of maiming and mutilating civilians, including cutting off lips, ears and hands. - Tension between Sudan and Uganda increases after the Ugandan town of Moyo is bombed a number of times and rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) officials - including its leader John Garang - are seen in Gulu and Kitgum. 1993 - Pope John Paul II visits Gulu on 6 February. A lull in rebel activities follows until August, when groups of heavily armed insurgents come from Sudan under the new name of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and launch attacks on Army units. - Towards the end of the year, peace talks between the government and LRA are initiated under the leadership of the Minister for the Pacification of the North, Betty Bigombe. 1994 - Peace talks continue until the beginning of February, when Museveni gives the rebels a seven-day ultimatum to surrender. - The LRA responds by launching armed attacks, especially on roads. Reportedly supported by the Sudanese government, which accuses Uganda of helping the SPLM/A, the LRA start planting landmines on main roads and footpaths. 1995 - Violence escalates. In April, the LRA massacres more than 200 people in Atyak. - Uganda and Sudan cut diplomatic relations. - In August, the LRA invade Kitgum district and carry out the first massive abduction of children to beef up their forces. During a retreat towards the Sudanese border they are bombed by an army helicopter, leaving dozens of rebels and abductees dead. - The new constitution is introduced in October 1995 and the NRA is renamed the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF). - From October, a joint offensive by the SPLM/A and UPDF dislodges the LRA from their base in Palotaka in southern Sudan, and continues to fight them well inside Sudan. 1996 - Presidential and parliamentary elections are held. Over 90 percent of the Acholi people vote for opposition leader Paul Ssemwogerere. - In February the LRA makes a violent comeback, laying ambushes, planting landmines and continuing with massive child abductions. - The year sees some of the worst atrocities committed by the rebels, who line up bodies of their murdered victims along the Gulu-Kampala road. - In July, the LRA attack a refugee camp at Acholi Pii, in Kitgum district, killing 115 Sudanese refugees. Two elders who attempt to go on a peace mission to talk to the rebels are murdered on arrival at the venue. - In August, the rebels kill 20 civilians in a market in Cwero. - In October, 139 schoolgirls are abducted from St. Mary's College at Aboke in Lira District. Most of them are released after the deputy headmistress, Sr Rachele Fasero, follows the rebels and pleads for the girls. More students are abducted from Sir Samuel Baker Secondary School in Gulu. - The government begins a policy of moving people into "protected villages" in Gulu. 1997 - The year starts with a five-day massacre in Lamwo County and Kitgum District, leaving 400 people killed by the LRA and thousands displaced. - Later in January, a parliamentary commission of enquiry about the war in the north passes a recommendation to pursue a military solution and not to engage in peace talks with the rebels. - In April, another joint offensive by the SPLM/A and the UPDF inside Sudan forces the LRA to move its camp further north from Aruu to Jebelein. - Catholic, Protestant and Muslim religious leaders start local peace initiatives. 1998 - Kitgum Assistant Resident District Commissioner James Canogura is shot dead in an ambush on the Kalongo-Kitgum Road. Thirty girls are abducted from a secondary school in Kalongo. - The Acholi Religious Leaders' Peace Initiative is formed. 1999 - 70 LRA rebels are killed in a battle with Karamojong warriors near Morulem, Kotido. - Rebels abduct more than 70 children and youth from Omiya Anyima, Kitgum. - In February, rebels retreat to Sudan and for about 10 months, there is almost complete peace. Many people attempt to leave the IDP camps to go back to their areas. - Uganda and Sudan sign a peace accord on 8 December. The return of all abductees and the restoration of diplomatic relations are pledged. - Parliament passes an Amnesty Bill. - Hopes for peace collapse as LRA attacks Gulu at the end of December. 2000 - Rebels attack Padibe camp in March, leaving 12 people dead. - Kitgum Resident District Commissioner John Baptist Ocaya dies after falling into an ambush on the Kitgum-Gulu road in June. - A second peace deal between Uganda and Sudan, brokered by the Carter Centre, is signed in September. - A Catholic priest, Fr Raffaele di Bari, is shot dead in an ambush near his mission in Pajule on 1 October. 2001 - Presidential elections held again in March. Again, the Acholi people vote massively against Museveni. Twelve people, including 11 students from a catering college, are killed by the LRA near Paraa lodge. 2002 - In March, Museveni sets up camp in Gulu to personally oversee operations against the rebels. Army Commander James Kazini vows to resign if Kony is not captured or killed by 31 December. - LRA bases a spokesman in London. He is Richard Matsanga, a.k.a. David Nyekorach. - In June, LRA Field Commander Vincent Otti sends a letter to government seeking peace talks. 2003 - In January, a newly created presidential peace team gives the LRA hotlines on which to initiate peace talks. - In February, Uganda says it has dropped support to the SPLM/A and Sudan allows the Ugandan army to pursue Kony inside Sudanese territory. - In April, the LRA abduct 290 people in Lira. In June, it launches attacks in the eastern region, hitting Katakwi and then Soroti districts, causing massive population displacement. 2004 - In February, nearly 30,000 people are displaced and 4,000 huts burned in the Pabbo camp for internally displaced persons. - Later in February, the LRA attack Barlonyo camp for displaced persons in Lira, killing over 200 civilians. Massive street protests follow the massacre, with mobs hunting suspects from Acholi and demanding that Museveni resign. - In July, Kony's training commander, Brig Gen Kenneth Banya, is captured by the army. He is the first high-profile rebel captured by the army since the rebellion started. - The Uganda army claims to have the upper hand in the conflict.